Background to this inspection
Updated
21 April 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 20 March 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because we wanted to make sure the registered manager and staff would be available to speak with us. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.
Before the inspection we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR) before the inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, this tells us what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. This ensured we were addressing any areas of concern. We also spoke to the local authority and the local Healthwatch, they had no negative comments about the service.
We spoke with four people who used the service, two relatives, three care staff, the registered manager and the managing director. We also spoke to a health and social care professional for their view of the service. We looked at three people’s care records, three staff files and one medicine administration record. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service. We looked at a variety of policies and procedures including safeguarding, complaints, mental capacity and deprivation of liberty, recruitment, accidents and incidents and equality and diversity.
Updated
21 April 2018
Dale Care & Support Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. The office is based in Rochdale town centre. At the time of our inspection care was being provided to five people.
The Service was registered 17 March 2017. This was their first rated inspection.
A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The registered manager and staff understood their role and responsibilities to keep people safe from harm. Risks were assessed and plans put in place to keep people safe. Checks were carried out on staff to assess their suitability to support vulnerable people.
The service was responsive and people received individualised care and support. People were encouraged to make their views known and the service responded by making changes. The registered manager welcomed comments and complaints and saw them as an opportunity to improve the care provided.
Staff received regular supervision and the training needed to meet people's needs.
The registered manager and staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and worked to ensure people's rights were respected.
Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff to make sure people had the care and support they needed.
People needed minimal support and prompting with their medicines and support was managed safely. Any risks to people were identified and managed in order to keep people safe.
People and relatives knew how to complain and raise any concerns. People and their relatives did not raise any concerns with us.
People were cared for by staff who knew them well. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. Care was taken to ensure care staff were able to communicate with people using their preferred language. The manager and staff had a good understanding of equality, diversity and human rights.
The culture within the service was personalised and open. There was a clear management structure and staff felt well supported and listened to.
The vision and values of the service were clearly communicated to and understood by staff. A quality assurance system was in place. This meant the quality of service people received was monitored on a regular basis and where shortfalls were identified they were acted upon.
Dale Care and Support Limited had a comprehensive business continuity plan in place to prepare the service in case of unforeseen circumstances and emergencies.